Tesla CEO Elon Musk wears a ‘Trump Was Right About Everything!’ hat, as he, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe attend a cabinet meeting at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Tesla reported a miss on the top and bottom lines in its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday as automotive revenue plunged 20% from a year earlier.
Here are the key numbers compared with LSEG expectations.
- Earnings per share: 27 cents adjusted vs. 39 cents estimated
- Revenue: $19.34 billion vs. $21.11 billion estimated
Total revenue slid 9% from $21.3 billion a year earlier. Automotive revenue dropped 20% to $14 billion from $17.4 billion in the same period last year.
Tesla said one reason for the decline was the need to update lines at its four vehicle factories to start making a refreshed version of its popular Model Y SUV. The company also pointed to lower average selling prices and sales incentives as a drag on revenue and profit.
Net income plummeted 71% to $409 million, or 12 cents a share, from $1.39 billion or 41 cents a year ago.
It’s been a brutal start to the year for Tesla, with CEO Elon Musk spending much of his time in President Donald Trump’s White House, overseeing an effort to dramatically downsize the federal government. The president’s sweeping tariffs plan has led to concerns that costs will increase for parts and materials crucial for electric vehicle production, including manufacturing equipment, automotive glass, printed circuit boards and battery cells.
Tesla refrained from promising growth this year and said it will “revisit our 2025 guidance in our Q2 update.”
Tesla shares are down 41% so far in 2025, and suffered their worst quarterly drop since 2022 in the period that ended in March. The stock was initially little changed in extended trading on Tuesday but then popped almost 5% after President Trump said he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In its shareholder deck, Tesla cautioned investors that “uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets continues to increase as rapidly evolving trade policy adversely impacts the global supply chain and cost structure of Tesla and our peers.” The company said this “dynamic,” and “changing political sentiment” could have a meaningful near-term impact on demand for its products.
Tesla has faced widespread protests in the U.S. and Europe, where Musk has actively supported Germany’s far-right AfD party. Earlier this month, the company reported a 13% decline in first quarter deliveries from a year earlier to 336,681.
Tesla has been struggling to keep pace with lower-cost competitors in China, and is a laggard in the robotaxi market, which is currently dominated in the U.S. by Alphabet’s Waymo. The company has promised to launch its first driverless ride-hailing offering in Austin, Texas, in June.
The company reassured investors on Tuesday that it remains on track for a “pilot launch” in Austin by that point, and to begin building its humanoid robots on a pilot production line in Fremont, California, this year.
Operating income in the quarter slid 66% to $400 million from $1.17 billion a year earlier, resulting in a 2.1% operating margin. The company cited an increase in expenses tied to artificial intelligence projects as one factor in the decline.
The company would have lost money on automotive sales without environmental regulatory credits during the quarter. Revenue from the credits, which Tesla receives for selling fully electric vehicles, increased to $595 million from $432 million in the same quarter last year.
Energy generation and storage revenue jumped 67% in the quarter to $2.73 billion from $1.64 billion a year ago. The company said growth in AI infrastructure is “creating an outsized opportunity for our Energy storage products to stabilize the grid, shift energy when it is needed most and provide additional power capacity.”
Tesla relies on foreign suppliers for its energy business. The company said “increasing tariffs may cause market volatility and near-term impacts to supply and demand.”
During a call with analysts after hours on Tuesday, Musk said that Tesla is the “least-affected car company with respect to tariffs” but he personally favors “predictable tariff structures,” as well as “free trade and lower tariffs.”
